3 answers: K-State vs. UMass

How Louisiana fared last week: The Ragin’ Cajuns trounced Southern 42-19 in their season opener. Southern led 12-7 after one quarter, but Louisiana rattled off 35 unanswered points. Quarterback Chris Masson threw for 283 yards and two touchdowns in his first start.

What this game means: Potential disaster. The Cajuns will be stoked to welcome a BCS opponent into their swamp, and the Wildcats will have to show substantial improvement to escape the bayou with a win.

If anything, Saturday just muddied the waters. Carson Coffman probably didn't play his way out Kansas State's starting quarterback job, but he didn't exactly strengthen his grip on the position, either.

"Sporadic," coach Bill Snyder summarized. "I thought there were times he played reasonably well and some times where he certainly didn't. He had turnovers, and that hurt us immensely, I think. He didn't throw the ball as well as he has been throwing the ball, for whatever reason."

Coffman finished 14-for-27 for 182 yards and two touchdowns in the Wildcats' 21-17 win over Massachusetts. But he also committed two turnovers, and K-State's offense stalled in the second half.

"We got shut out the second half," Coffman said. "We can't do that if we want to win this year."

Backup Grant Gregory checked in briefly when Coffman went down with leg cramps in the second half. Gregory immediately broke off a 16-yard run, but he also fumbled a snap later in the drive. He finished with 21 rushing yards and no pass attempts.

"I was in there to run the ball a little bit," Gregory said. "Carson won the starting job in the preseason, so I was just in there today as kind of a change of pace when he got hurt. I don't know what the exact situation was, but it was a time when we needed to milk the clock and bleed out some first downs."

Snyder indicated he considered leaving Gregory on the field but felt Coffman had a better grasp of certain elements of the offense (presumably, the passing game).

By all accounts, Coffman's numbers Saturday didn't do justice to his performance in practice. Some first-game jitters may have contributed, but Coffman said nerves weren't to blame for his first-quarter fumble and subsequent interception.

"I fumbled that first one (after) I got hit in the back," Coffman said. "The second one, someone was hitting me while I threw it and it just (slipped) out of my hand."

2. Will K-State' D-line hold up?

Again, the results were largely inconclusive. UMass' Tony Nelson rushed for 107 yards, but the Minutemen never seemed capable of running at will. The Wildcats only recorded one sack, but they pressured quarterback Kyle Havens enough that he misfired on 24 of his 34 pass attempts. It does appear that Jeffrey Fitzgerald, who smothered Havens for K-State's only sack, has the capacity to be an effective pass rusher.

"I was able to get free, and it was just me and the quarterback," Fitzgerald said. "I just had to get to him and make a play."

K-State got a few snaps out of defensive tackle Daniel Calvin, whose contributions were limited during fall camp. Depth remains an issue, however, as defensive end Kadero Terrell became the latest lineman to go down to injury.

3. Will they fill the Bill?

Indeed they did. A sellout crowd of 50,750 showed up to welcome Snyder back to the sideline.

"It's unbelievable," athletic director John Currie said. "I'm really proud of our student athletes, the way they responded, and I'm so thankful for all of our fans across the state and across the country who made it a priority to be back and support this football team tonight."